 For example, some critics focus on Salome, who divorces her husband on her own will in order to be with her lover, Silleus.Though Mariam is the title character and the play's moral center, her part in the play amounts to only about 10% of the whole;

Tyranny is another key theme.Cary uses a Chorus and a set of secondary characters to provide a multi-vocal portrayal of Herod's court and Jewish society under his tyranny.